Low Expectations
by Christene Cullen
Summary: When two of the most unexpected people find love during hard times, how will they cope? Can anything ever work out? He's damaged beyond repair and she didn't want this. haymitch x effie.


**A/N**: I know this is super short, I'm sorry for those who read! But I had to start this somewhere and yeah. REVIEW IT. What do you all think! There will definitely be more coming! How much more I am unsure of.

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><p>Haymitch Abernathy remembered the first time he had laid eyes on Effie Trinket. She'd had on a ludicrously bright bubblegum pink wig, a powder blue suit, and had been nervously wringing her hands as her name was announced to all of District 12 as their new escort. The announcement was met with a tension-filled silence, which had procured a small, nervous whimper from the young lady's mouth. Haymtich had ignored her nervousness as they were beckoned onto the stage. A caring kind of person might have tried to comfort her, offer her a word of advice about how brutal district 12 could be when it came to the Capitol. But Haymitch was nowhere near caring anymore, and the only thing going through his buzzed mind was how fucking ridiculous her wig looked.<p>

After the Reaping, she had tried to hug him. He remembered everything about her very distinctly, something odd for him since he'd been quite liquored up. They had gone back into the Justice Building, as was ritual, and Effie had turned to him, let out her breath in a whoosh, as if expelling all the nervousness from her lungs, and had thrown her arms around his neck. He hadn't quite been sure why, but he'd just stood there, counting the seconds in his head until she'd let go. "I did it! I made it through my first reaping!" She said triumphantly. Haymitch had rolled his eyes and withdrawn a flask from the inner pocket of his jacket. She'd looked at him with her head cocked slightly to the side, curiosity etched on her face. He was grateful when realization had finally dawned on her and she'd promptly turned away on the heel of her shoe, only to march off and grab her planner and a few other belongings from a table down the hall. "Come on you three. We can't be late for our first meeting!" She had briskly announced. The two tributes, a boy of 16 who was thinner than a bean pole and a smaller girl with dull brown hair, turned nervously and followed Effie. Haymitch followed as well, a smirk on his lips as he wondered what Effie would do if he plucked that wig right off her head.

The train ride was a long one, as it always was when there were two new tributes. They were nervous and a bit taken aback by Effie's upbeat personality, and Haymitch did nothing to help. At dinner he'd hardly touched his food, opting instead to guzzle down the wine that was constantly getting refilled by the provided avox. Effie had rambled on and on about preparations and having high expectations, but Haymitch didn't follow her words, instead deciding to allow himself to succumb to the drunken stupor that quite often controlled his mind. As the sun was setting outside of the train, Effie ushered the two tributes off to bed from where all four of them had been sitting in a small living room, and as soon as they were out of earshot, she rounded on him. Her blue eyes were ablaze, and her wig was slightly askew, maybe from the long day, or maybe from the sharp turn she'd made to face him. "Some mentor you are," Effie had spat at him as she propped her hands on her hips. Haymitch just shrugged his shoulders and leaned deeper into his chair. "You don't have anything to say for yourself?" Effie prompted him, as if she wanted an apology. He hadn't treated her the best, no, but what had she expected from a drunk like him?

"Look, Miss Trinket," he sneered her name out. Their last escort had been a sad old man who knew district 12 didn't stand a chance. "I've given up hope. You're new, yours will last for a few days. But those kids? They won't make it past the cornucopia, so don't get too invested. I made that mistake a few times." He took a long drink of the brandy in his hand as she pursed her lips at him. Was she really going to argue this further?

"You could alteast have some faith and give them a shot. What do you know? Maybe they've got what it takes." Effie might have had a point, but Haymitch hadn't heard it. He didn't want to, so he wouldn't. This conversation was done, in his opinion. Haymitch had nodded to her, then, said a quick good night, and headed off to bed. From then on, Effie had minded her own business, and things had gone about just as they had before. That was, until Katniss and Peeta came along.


End file.
